Hey fellas!

My name is Kyle. I am trying to figure out a major problem for my dad who is out on the road far away from home. He finally decided to take a vacation after just getting his truck back from the Ford garage. He is out of Colorado over along the east coast(Tenn.) in his camper. He has a 82(i think) f250 diesel with an aftermarket turbo kit on it. Other than that I think it is all OEM. The turbo has been on the truck for a few years wit no problems. It is running lower boost as well. The truck is VERY well cared for and has low mileage but most of the miles are with a camper on the back of it. Now that you know a little bit of history on the truck I will tell you the problem. Being that I am hundreds of miles away I will try to communicate the issues as best as possible... Consider that the truck has been to 2 Ford garages after the first visit before leaving Colorado.

THe truck seems as if it is hard to start or just does not do anything but crank when trying to start. My parents have been trying to wait 15min or so in between trying to start the truck and had to wait over 3hrs this last time to get it going again. THey say it runs fine once it is started but they got a flat about 20min ago. THat being said they are probably still working on the tire now, and I cant get in touch with them but I would like to give some starting point for checking the fuel or electricAL system when I do touch base. The truck usually starts in the early morning and then after that is has a hard time starting after that. My dad used to be an airforce mechanic and is usually pretty quick at picking out the problem issue and getting it fixed. He is unfamiliar with the deisel systems and a 2 gas tank setup. So far he has done a few things from what my mom has told me...

This is what I think he has done so far..
1. replace the fuel pump
2. bleed the fuel lines
3. check all known fuses
4. check for air and fuel

ALL and ANY help is greatly appreciated!
THank you very much for your help!
Kyle

 

I had some similar troubles with a 92 7.3. You are looseing your prime, here's a couple of things for you to try.The fittings in the fuel filter may have worked loose, and have to be re-sealed. also the fittings on all the metal lines have a rubber washer inside that deteriorates over time, these may need to be replaced. Look on top of the main fuel pump[looks like a spider on the front of the engine) there is a fitting that has a check valve in it, this fitting sometimes gets sludged up, and allows the return line to act as a siphon. Check and make sure that all return lines are not kinked. lastly, the newer old style 7.3's had a check valve on #1 injector to keep the fuel from going down the return line when sitting. 7.3, and 6.9 same animal, repais should be the same. good luck

 

I was gonna say glow plugs til you said it starts fine in the morning.

 

Thanks VERY MUCH! He said that he did change the glow plugs already also. He will check the other issues with the fuel lines-parts in the morning. He did get an empty bottle to prime the engine and said that it worked to help start the truck. He had another phone call coming in so I will get more info in the morning.

Thanks Again!
Kyle

 

my dad has a 2002 7.3 litre diesel, it now has almost 190,000 miles on it last month it had to go to the shop with problems, the "shop" it went to replaced the oil pump,fuel pump,a few gaskets and the cam position sensor, the cam position sensor was the only problem this truck had given in 180,000 miles of pulling everything from a small atv trailer to a 39' travel trailer and even an equipment trailer with a backhoe for a while,, the end result was...

we had the truck towed from the "shop" and sent it to the local ford dealer who diagnosed it with bad orings on the injectors and while it was there they advised the fuel tank to be emptied and cleaned and the fuel pump to be replaced on the frame and since then it has been running like a new one once again

all in all my first guess whoul be the cam position sensor which is on the front of the engine it only takes a 10 mm wrench to replace it and the part from ford is only about 30 bucks and it has been redesigned and is supposedly much better.... thats the quick easy fix if not that then i would probably go to fuel pressure but at that time it should probably go to ford

tell your parents good luck from all us ford nuts

 

He's dealing with an IDI diesel, not a PSD, no electronics, cam sensor or need to take it to Ford for diagnosis.
Starting fine in the morning pretty much rules out glow plugs and an air leak. To me, it sounds like the injection pump may be on it's way out.
What may help, and will definitley diagnose the pump, but isn't something I'd do to a possibly good pump(rule out everything else first) would be to try pouring cold water on the IP when it's hot and won't re-start. If it starts right up, the pump is on it's last legs.

 

ok, guess i should have read a little slower at the year part of the post

if nothing else, instead of getting smelly fuel all over his hands when trying to prime the engine, try this, use zippo lighter fuel, it will crank and run on it and its not as bad on the engine as starter fluid and not nearly as messy or smelly

no need to even pull the breather off just squirt it in the snout of the breather, this even works on big rigs, i know i have run a few of those out of fuel